Freddie Mercury's stage-worn black and white striped catsuit and ballet shoes worn on the News Of The World tour, November 1977 – May 1978

Freddie Mercury's stage-worn black and white striped catsuit and ballet shoes

worn on the News Of The World tour, November 1977 – May 1978

a black and white striped long sleeved elastane catsuit slashed to the waist, with integral feet, each vertical stripe a separate narrow panel stitched alongside its opposing colour, the cuffs edged in black and the soles of the feet shaped entirely from black, unlabelled; and two pairs of leather ballet shoes, one black, the other white, both lined in ivory cotton, the leather soles of each pair stamped ‘FREED, London’ and size ‘8’, both pairs of shoes showing signs of considerable use

(qty 5)

It seems that Freddie had approximately four versions of this black and white striped catsuit. A slashed to the waist style such as this appears to have first been seen on stage at Oakland on 17 December 1977. One high neck version and another scoop neck version are included in this collection (lots 192-193) whilst another example, slashed to the waist like the current example, was sold at auction in 2013.

LITERATURE

Queen: The Neal Preston Photographs, Reel Art Press, 2020, illus. p.48

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